Seed-a-lee-doo...

This season, I learned a lot about sowing and caring for a garden. I've also come to realize that while it is indeed a lot of work, it is not necessary, unlike what I was led to believe, to be absolutely perfect in the art of gardening in order to enjoy a decent harvest. There are weeds in my garden. Yep... But there are also perfectly fine vegetables which I was able to add to many meals and happily savour. It certainly was successful enough in the end to make me already look forward to next year and a new garden season.

In preparations to that, the next thing I wanted to explore was seed harvesting. How fun would it be if I could eventually harvest all my seeds from my own garden and use them in the following years! Not only would I save a lot of money over time, but I would also ensure the quality of my seeds. I decided to start with the obvious: Everything that grows in pods.

So I am intentionally leaving some peas, green beans and yellow beans on the plants to mature and dry,  whereafter I will be able to crack the dried pods open and save the seeds for next year.

In the meantime, I looked around the yard and garden to find seeds that I could already harvest, and here is the result of my mini-quest.

Zucchini
(Same process for pumpkins)

1- Allow one of the zucchinis to grow and mature on the plant. I learned that they can become really quite huge!

42 x 12 cm (around 16.5" x  4,5") 

2- Cut the zucchini open and scrape the middle out.

Cut and scrape...

3- Find the healthy looking seeds. They look pretty much like pumpkin seeds. Discard the rest of the gooey stuff. The flesh can be eaten, of course! Lay the seeds on paper towels or on a screen net tray. Set somewhere warm and dry and leave them for a couple of weeks. When the seeds are completely dry, store for next year!

It's not only vegetable seeds that can be harvested. Flowers are fun too, and some of them are quite easy to deal with.

Iris

I spotted my blue irises earlier this year. When the flowers were done, the plant started forming pods in their place. I didn't touch anything and waited through the season for the pods to mature and dry.

1- Wait for the pods to dry and turn brown. They will start opening at the top and they will sound like mini maracas when you shake them.

Dried iris seed pods (featuring a blurry Kashew  in the background)

2- Pick the best looking ones, and crack them open.

3 - Clear residues out and store the seeds away. 

Lavender

Harvesting lavender seeds is a bit of a different process. 

1- Wait until the flowers are done and dry. They will have holes all over.

Dried lavender flower. (Featuring a blurry Tiana in the background)

2- Cut out some of the dried flowers and place them in a container with lid.

Lavender flowers, even at this stage, have such a nice fragrance! 

3- Close and shake the container. The little seeds contained in the flowers will fall out. 

4- Take the flowers out and set the seeds aside. Repeat the process with the same flowers until no more seeds are obtained. 

5 - Clear the residues out and store the small seeds. 

Tiny lavender seeds

I don't actually have any intention of sowing lavender directly in soil. I have a lot of it and one of its way to propagate is to run roots out under the soil in and pop baby plants everywhere. So as nice looking and as beautiful a fragrance it can have, it can be quite a pest at times! However, lavender in pots can also have its charm. :)

That's it for the time being. If any of you also harvest seeds and have tricks to share, please feel free to comment! I would love to hear from you. :)

A touch of lavender

When we first moved into our house in 2010, the backyard was filled with the lovely and soothing scent of lavender. There was indeed, and still is a lot of lavender growing on our lot. At the time, I picked a good amount of the pretty lavender flowers and hung them to dry. I then placed them in a box for later use.

It is nearly 2 years later now and I finally used a little of my time to make some First-summer-in-our-house-reminders in the form of scented crocheted balls. It is amazing how many memories can be associated to one single fragrance. Dried lavender can keep their scent for many many years, keeping your memories alive at the same time. :)

If this simple but fun project interests you, here is how to proceed:

You will need:

yarn,

scissors,

a crochet to fit your yarn size,

a yarn needle,

a stitch marker,

a small amount of polyester toy stuffing (not on picture),

dry lavender flowers.

Crochet about 3/4 of a ball.

Don't know how? go see the Ball tutorial at Greedy For Colors

Here, I chose to use 3 different colours.

When you are almost done forming the ball, put a little bit of stuffing inside it to give it a "bottom".

Place 2-3 dry lavender flowers into the ball.

Stuff with stuffing until you obtain a nice round ball.

Finish the last row or two and fasten. 

You now have a cute little ball with a piece of your garden in it! :)

These can be used in drawers, wardrobes or linen cabinets to give clothes and linens a fresh fragrance. They can be hung in a room as decoration. With the lavender's soothing and calming effect, maybe it would be worth trying to slide one or two of those little balls at the bottom of a pillow case, if falling asleep is a problem. I am also thinking that the colors, scent and size can be adjusted depending on the season and occasion.

Any other ideas?